LESSON 4.

Network Protocols and Communications

A network can be as complex as devices connected across the Internet, or as simple as

two computers directly connected to one another with a single cable, and anything in between.
Networks can vary in size, shape, and function. However, simply having the physical connection
between end devices is not enough to enable communication. For communication to occur,
devices must know “how” to communicate (Cisco Networking Academy, 2016).

Lesson Objectives:

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After this lesson, student must be able to:
1. explain why are protocols necessary in communication,
2. describe is the purpose of adhering to a protocol suite,
3. identify the role of standards organizations in establishing protocols for network
interoperability,
4. demonstrate how are the TCP/IP model and the OSI model used to facilitate
standardization in the communication process, and
5. demonstrate how does data encapsulation allow data to be transported across the
network.

Rules of Communication

What Is Communication?

People exchange ideas using many different communication methods. However,

regardless of the method chosen, all communication methods have three elements in common.
The first of these elements is the message source, or sender. Message sources are people, or
electronic devices, that need to send a message to other individuals or devices. The second
element of communication is the destination, or receiver, of the message. The destination
receives the message and interprets it. A third element, called a channel, consists of the media
that provides the pathway over which the message travels from source to destination. This is
shown in Figure 1-72.

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 Figure 1-72. Human communication (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

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Establishing the Rules

Before communicating with one another, individuals must use established rules or
agreements to govern the conversation. Figure 1-73 shows why protocols are necessary for
effective communication. Without correct formatting and adherence to established rules and
protocols, it is very difficult to interpret the message.

Figure 1-73. Importance of protocols (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

The protocols used are specific to the characteristics of the communication method,
including the characteristics of the source, destination, and channel. After both parties is an

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agreed-upon method of communicating (face-to-face, telephone, letter, photography), the
protocols put in place must account for the following requirements:
 An identified sender and receiver
 Common language and grammar
 Speed and timing of delivery
 Confirmation or acknowledgement requirements

As shown in Figure 1-74, the protocols that are used in network communications share
many of the fundamental traits as those protocols used to govern successful human
conversations. In addition to identifying the source and destination, computer and network
protocols define the details of how a message is transmitted across a network to answer the

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previous requirements. While there are many protocols that must interact, common computer
protocols include:
 Message encoding
 Message formatting and encapsulation
 Message size
 Message timing
 Message delivery options

Figure 1-74. Protocols (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

Message Encoding

One of the first steps to sending a message is encoding it. Encoding is the process of
converting information into another, acceptable form for transmission. Decoding reverses this
process to interpret the information.

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wireless - RF or
microwave
 In computer communication, encoding between hosts must be in an appropriate form for
the medium. Messages sent across the network are first converted into bits by the sending host.
Each bit is encoded into a pattern of sounds, light waves, or electrical impulses, depending on
the network media over which the bits are transmitted. The destination host receives and decodes
the signals to interpret the message (Cisco Networking Academy, 2016).

Message Formatting and Encapsulation

When a message is sent from source to destination, it must use a specific format or
structure. Message formats depend on the type of message and the channel that is used to deliver
the message. Letter writing is one of the most common forms of written human communication.

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For centuries, the agreed-upon format for personal letters has not changed. In many cultures, a
personal letter contains the following elements (see Figure 1-75):
 An identifier of the recipient
 A salutation or greeting
 The message content
 A closing phrase
 An identifier of the sender

Figure 1-75. Formatting and encapsulation for a postal letter (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

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 DEFAULT : MIN. size = 576B
MAX. size = 1500B
Message Size

Another rule of communication is size. When people communicate with each other, the
messages that they send are usually broken into smaller parts or sentences. These sentences
are limited in size to what the receiving person can process at one time.
Likewise, when a long message is sent from one host to another over a network, it is
necessary to break the message into smaller pieces. The rules that govern the size of the pieces,
or frames, communicated across the network are very strict. They can also be different,
depending on the channel used. Frames that are too long or too short are not delivered. The size
restrictions of frames require the source host to break a long message into individual pieces that
meet both the minimum and maximum size requirements. This is known as segmenting. Each

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segment is encapsulated in a separate frame with the address information, and is sent over the
network. At the receiving host, the messages are de-encapsulated and put back together to be
processed and interpreted.

Message Timing

Another factor that affects how well a message is received and understood is timing.
People use timing to determine when to speak, how fast or slow to talk, and how long to wait for
a response. These are the rules of engagement which include the:
 Access method. This timing determines when someone is able to send a message.
Similarly, in computer network, it is necessary for computers to define an access
method. Hosts on a network need an access method to know when to begin sending
messages and how to respond when errors occur.
 Flow control. Timing also affects how much information can be sent and the speed in
which it can be delivered. In network communication, a sending host can transmit
messages at a faster rate than the destination host can receive and process. Source
and destination hosts use flow control to negotiate correct timing for successful
communication.
 Response Timeout. If a person asks a question and does not hear a response within
an acceptable amount of time, the person assumes that no answer is coming and
reacts accordingly. Likewise, the hosts on the network also have rules that specify how
long to wait for responses and what action to take if a response timeout occurs.

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Message Delivery Options

There are also times when the sender of a message needs to be sure that the message
is delivered successfully to the destination. In these cases, it is necessary for the recipient to
return an acknowledgement to the sender. If no acknowledgement is required, the delivery option
is referred to as unacknowledged.
Hosts on a network use similar delivery options to communicate as shown in Figure 1-76.
A one-to-one delivery option is referred to as a unicast, meaning that there is only a single
destination for the message. When a host needs to send messages using a one-to-many delivery
option, it is referred to as a multicast. Multicasting is the delivery of the same message to a group
of host destinations simultaneously. If all hosts on the network need to receive the message at

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the same time, a broadcast is used. Broadcasting represents a one-to-all message delivery
option. Additionally, hosts have requirements for acknowledged versus unacknowledged
messages

Figure 1-76. Delivery options to communicate with the host over the network (courtesy of
Cisco Press, 2016)

Network Protocols and Standards

A strict set of rules must be adhered to in order to allow communication to occur between
humans or machines. To ensure that these rules or protocols function together and in a

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predictable manner, a number of organizations and processes have been developed to provide
standards.

Protocols

Similar to in human communication, the various network and computer protocols must be
able to interact and work together for network communication to be successful.
As explained by Cisco Networking Academy (2016), a group of inter-related protocols
necessary to perform a communication function is called a protocol suite. Protocol suites are
implemented by hosts and networking devices in software, hardware, or both.
One of the best ways to visualize how the protocols within a suite interact is to view the

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interaction as a stack. A protocol stack shows how the individual protocols within a suite are
implemented. The protocols are viewed in terms of layers, with each higher-level service
depending on the functionality defined by the protocols shown in the lower levels. The lower layers
of the stack are concerned with moving data over the network and providing services to the upper
layers, which are focused on the content of the message being sent.
As illustrated in Figure 1-77, we can use layers to describe the activity occurring in our
face-to-face communication example. At the bottom layer, the physical layer, we have two people,
each with a voice that can say words out loud. At the second layer, the rules layer, we have an
agreement to speak in a common language. At the top layer, the content layer, there are words
that are actually spoken. This is the content of the communication.

Figure 1-77. Protocols -- Rules That Govern Communications (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

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Network Protocols

Cisco Networking Academy (2016) states that in network or internet, for the devices to
successfully communicate, a network protocol suite must describe precise requirements and
interactions. Networking protocols define a common format and set of rules for exchanging
messages between devices. Some common networking protocols are IP, HTTP, and DHCP. As
shown in Figure 1-78, the networking protocols describes the following processes:
 How the message is formatted or structured (see Figure 1-78a),
 The process by which networking devices share information about pathways with other
networks (see Figure 1-78b),
 How and when error and system messages are passed between devices (see Figure

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1-78c), and
 The setup and termination of data transfer sessions (see Figure 1-78d).

(a) The format or structure of the communication in pieces

(b) The process by which networking devices shared information about pathways to other network

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 Computer Networking 1
(c) How and when error and system messages are passed between devices

(d) The setting up and termination of data transfer sessions

Figure 1-78. Role of networking protocols (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

Interaction of Protocols

Figure 1-79 illustrates the use of protocol suite in network communications such as
interaction between a web server and a web client. This interaction uses a number of protocols
and standards in the process of exchanging information between them. The different protocols
work together to ensure that the messages are received and understood by both parties.
Examples of these protocols are:
 Application protocol. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a protocol that governs the
way that a web server and a web client interact. HTTP defines the content and formatting
of the requests and responses that are exchanged between the client and server. Both
the client and the web server software implement HTTP as part of the application. HTTP

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 relies on other protocols to govern how the messages are transported between the client
and server.
 Transport protocol. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is the transport protocol that
manages the individual conversations between web servers and web clients. TCP divides
the HTTP messages into smaller pieces, called segments. These segments are sent
between the web server and client processes running at the destination host. TCP is also
responsible for controlling the size and rate at which messages are exchanged between
the server and the client.
 Internet protocol: IP is responsible for taking the formatted segments from TCP,
encapsulating them into packets, assigning them the appropriate addresses, and

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delivering them across the best path to the destination host.
 Network access protocols. Network access protocols describe two primary functions:
communication over a data link and the physical transmission of data on the network
media. Data-link management protocols take the packets from IP and format them to be
transmitted over the media. The standards and protocols for the physical media govern
how the signals are sent and how they are interpreted by the receiving clients. An example
of a network access protocol is Ethernet.
web/Internet
TCP/IP

2
Ethernet medium
protocol
1
cloud IP - internet protocol

transport layer

HTTP App. protocol

user
Figure 1-79. Interaction of protocols (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

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Protocol Suites

As stated earlier, a protocol suite is a set of protocols that work together to provide
comprehensive network communication services. A protocol suite can be specified by a standards
organization or developed by a vendor.

Protocol Suites and Industry Standards

According to Cisco Networking Acedemy (2016), the protocol such as IP, HTTP, and
DHCP are all part of the Internet protocol suite known as Transmission Control Protocol/IP
(TCP/IP). The TCP/IP protocol suite is an open standard which means that these protocols are

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freely available to the public, and any vendor is able to implement these protocols on its hardware
or in its software.
Furthermore, a standards-based protocol is a process or protocol that has been
endorsed by the networking industry and ratified, or approved, by a standards organization. The
use of standards in developing and implementing protocols ensures that products from different
manufacturers can interoperate successfully. If a protocol is not rigidly observed by a particular
manufacturer, its equipment or software might not be able to successfully communicate with
products made by other manufacturers.
Consequently, there are some protocols that are proprietary. Proprietary means that one
company or vendor controls the definition of the protocol and how it functions. Some proprietary
protocols can be used by different organizations with permission from the owner. Others can only
be implemented on equipment manufactured by the proprietary vendor. Examples of proprietary
protocols are AppleTalk and Novell NetWare.
Moreover, several companies might even work together to create a proprietary protocol.
It is not uncommon for a vendor (or a group of vendors) to develop a proprietary protocol to meet
the needs of its customers and later assist in making that proprietary protocol an open standard.
For example, Ethernet was a protocol originally developed by Bob Metcalfe at the Xerox Palo
Alto Research Center (PARC) in the 1970s. In 1979, Bob Metcalfe formed his own company,
3COM, and worked with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Intel, and Xerox to promote the
“DIX” standard for Ethernet. In 1985, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) published the IEEE 802.3 standard that was almost identical to Ethernet. Today, 802.3 is
the common standard used in local-area networks (LAN). As another example, most recently,
Cisco opened the Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) as an informational RFC

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 3 protocol suits
1.) open standard - FREE TO ALL
2.) standard based - approve industry or STANDARD ORG.
3.) proprietory - only use by the vendors
to meet the needs of customers who desire to use the protocol in a multivendor network. Figure
1-80 shows some common protocol suites and industry standards.

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Figure 1-80. Protocol suites and industry standards (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

Creation of the Internet and Development of TCP/IP

The IP suite is a suite of protocols required for transmitting and receiving information using
the Internet. It is commonly known as TCP/IP because the first two networking protocols defined
for this standard were TCP and IP. Some important dates in the development of network protocols
and applications are:
 1969: On October 29, 1969, the first message is transmitted from an SDS Sigma 7
mainframe computer at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to an SDS
940 mainframe computer at Stanford Research Institute.
 1970: ALOHAnet becomes operational. It is the first packet radio network, developed
by Norman Abramson, University of Hawaii.
 1972: Ray Tomlinson chooses the @ sign to signify the recipient’s destination.
 1972: Larry Roberts writes the first email management program.
 1981: The TCP and IP protocols are formalized (RFC 793 and RFC 791).
 1982: The Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP) is developed to allow routers to exchange
network information (RFC 827).
 1984: The Domain Name Service (DNS) is introduced.

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 TCP -RFC 793
IP - RFC 791 RATIFIED IN 1981

 1985: The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is documented (RFC 765).

 1986: Cisco launches its first routing innovation, the AGS multiprotocol router.
 1988: The Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is developed by Jarkko Oikarinen.
 1991: Tim Bemers-Lee and Robert Cailliau release the specifications for WWW.
 1993: The first web browser, MOSAIC, is developed by Marc Andreessen at the
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
 1995: The first specifications for IPv6 (the eventual successor to IPv4) are released
(RFC 1883).
 2011: The first World IPv6 Day (June 8, 2011). Many websites and Internet service
providers around the world, including Google, Facebook, and Yahoo!, participate with

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more than 1000 other companies for a worldwide trial of IPv6.
 2012: The launch of the permanent IPv6 Internet on June 6, 2012.

TCP/IP Protocol Suite and Communication Process

Figure 1-81 shows dozens of protocols and they are organized in layers using the TCP/IP
protocol model. TCP/IP protocols are included in the Internet layer to the application layer when
referencing the TCP/IP model. The lower-layer protocols in the data link or network access layer
are responsible for delivering the IP packet over the physical medium. These lower-layer protocols
are developed by standards organizations such as IEEE (Cisco Networking Academy, 2016).
domain name IP email
service/system
HTTPS

PCP3
remote access

Figure 1-81. TCP/IP protocol suite and communication process (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

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 Table 1-4 describes the function of some of the protocols found in the TCP/IP suite.

Table 1-4. Common TCP/IP Protocols and Processes

PROTOCOL OR PROCESS DESCRIPTION
Translates domain names, such as cisco.com into IP
Domain Name System/Service (DNS)
address.
Enables a diskless workstation to discover its own IP
Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP)
address. BOOTP is being superseded by DHCP.
Dynamically assigns IP address to client stations at
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
startup and allows the addresses to be reused when no
(DHCP)
longer needed.
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Enables clients to send email to a mail server.
Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3) Enables clients to retrieved email from a mail server.
Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) Enables clients to access email stored on a mail server.
Set of rules that enable a user on one host to access and

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File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
transfer files to and from another host over the network.
A simple, connectionless file transfer protocol that utilize
Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP)
less overhead than FTP.
Enables a process running on one host to send packets
User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
to a process running on another host.
Enables reliable communication between processes
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
running on separate host.
Receives message segment from the transport layer for
Internet Protocol (IP)
end-to-end delivery over an internetwork.
Translates IP addresses from a private network into a
Network Address Translation (NAT)
globally unique public IP address.
Provides feedback from a destination host to a source
Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)
host about errors in packet delivery.
Dynamic routing protocol which uses hop count as a
routing metric to find the best path between the source
Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
and the destination network (It also a class-based
protocol).
An improves upon RIPv1 with the ability to use VLSM,
Routing Information Protocol version 2 with support for route authentication, and with
(RIPv2) multicasting of route updates (It also a classless-based
protocol).
Link-state routing protocol that hierarchical design based
Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
on areas.
Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Cisco-proprietary routing protocol that uses composite
Protocol (EIGRP) metric based on bandwidth, delay, load, and reliability.
Interdomain routing protocol designed to provide loop-
free routing between separate routing domains that
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
contain independent routing policies (autonomous
systems)
Provides dynamic address mapping between an IP
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)
address and a hardware address (or MAC address).
Provides a means of encapsulating packets for
Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)
transmission over a serial link.
Defines the rules for wiring and signaling standards of the
Ethernet
network access layer.
Provides instruction to a machine for the control of a
Interface Driver
specific interface on a network device.

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Protocol Operation of Sending and Receiving a Message

The TCP/IP protocol suite is implemented within the operating system and software as
a TCP/IP stack on both the sending and receiving hosts to provide end-to-end delivery of
applications over a network. The 802.3 or Ethernet protocols are used to transmit the IP packet
over the physical medium used by the LAN as shown in Figure 1-82.

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Figure 1-82. Protocol operation of sending and receiving a message (courtesy of Cisco Press,
2016)

Standards Organizations

Standards organizations are important in maintaining an open Internet with freely

accessible specifications and protocols that can be implemented by any vendor. A standards
organization might draft a set of rules entirely on its own or in other cases might select a
proprietary protocol as the basis for the standard. If a proprietary protocol is used, it usually
involves the vendor who created the protocol (Cisco Networking Academy, 2016).

Open Standards

Open standards encourage competition and innovation. They also guarantee that no
single company’s product can monopolize the market, or have an unfair advantage over its
competition. Standards organizations are usually vendor-neutral, nonprofit organizations
established to develop and promote the concept of open standards. Standards organizations
include (see Figure 1-83):

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  Internet Society (ISOC)
 Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
 Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
 International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

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Figure 1-83. Some standard organizations (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

ISOC, IAB, and IETF

The Internet Society (ISOC) is responsible for promoting open development, evolution,
and Internet use throughout the world. ISOC facilitates the open development of standards and
protocols for the technical infrastructure of the Internet, including the oversight of the Internet
Architecture Board (IAB) as shown in Figure 1-84.
The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is responsible for the overall management and
development of Internet standards. The IAB provides oversight of the architecture for protocols
and procedures used by the Internet. It also the board of researchers and professionals that
manages the engineering and technical development related to the Internet. Manages several
task forces, including the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) and the Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF).
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a large open international community of
network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the
Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. One of the key responsibilities of
the IETF is to produce Request for Comments (RFC) documents, which are a memorandum
describing protocols, processes, and technologies for the Internet. On other hand, the Internet

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Research Task Force (IRTF) is focused on long-term research related to Internet and TCP/IP
protocols, applications, architecture, and technologies. While the IETF focuses on shorter term
issues of creating standards.

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Figure 1-84. The ISOC, IAB, and IETF (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

IEEE

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, pronounced “I-triple-E”) is

a professional organization for those in the electrical engineering and electronics fields who are
dedicated to advancing technological innovation and creating standards. As of 2012 IEEE
consists of:
 38 societies
 130 journals
802- IEEE
 1,300 conferences each year 802.3 ETHERNET
 1,300 standards and projects 802.11 WIFI
802.15 BLUETOOTH
 400,000 members
 160 countries

The IEEE is one of the leading standards-producing organizations in the world. It creates
and maintains standards affecting a wide range of industries including power and energy,
healthcare, telecommunications, and networking. The IEEE 802 family of standards deals with
local-area networks and metropolitan-area networks, including both wired and wireless. Each
IEEE standard consists of a working group responsible for creating and improving the standards.
Table 1-5 lists some of these working groups.

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 Table 1-5. IEEE 802 Working Groups and Study Groups
GROUP RESPONSIBILITIES
802.1 Higher Layer LAN Protocols Working Group
802.3 Ethernet Working Group
802.11 Wireless LAN Working Group
802.15 Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) Working Group
802.16 Wireless Broadband Access Working Group
802.18 Radio Regulatory TAG
802.19 Wireless Coexistence Working Group
802.21 Media Independent Handover Services Working Group
802.22 Wireless Regional Area Network (WRAN)
802.24 Smart Grid TAG

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ISO

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the world’s largest

developer of international standards for a wide variety of products and services. In networking,
ISO is best known for its Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model. ISO published
the OSI reference model in 1984 to develop a layered framework for networking protocols. The
original objective of this project was not only to create a reference model but also to serve as a
foundation for a suite of protocols to be used for the Internet. This was known as the OSI protocol
suite. However, because of the rising popularity of the TCP/IP suite, developed by Robert Kahn,
Vinton Cerf, and others, the OSI protocol suite was not chosen as the protocol suite for the
Internet. The OSI protocol suite was implemented on telecommunications equipment and can still
be found in legacy telecommunication networks. is an independent, non governmental interntaional
organization with a membership of 162 national
standard bodies
Other Standards Organizations

Networking standards involve several other standards organizations. Some of the more
common ones are:
 EIA. The Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), previously known as the Electronics
Industries Association, is an international standards and trade organization for
electronics organizations. The EIA is best known for its standards related to electrical
wiring, connectors, and the 19-inch racks used to mount networking equipment.
 TIA. The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is responsible for
developing communication standards in a variety of areas including radio equipment,
cellular towers, Voice over IP (VoIP) devices, satellite communications, and more.

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 Many of its standards are produced in collaboration with the EIA such as the EIA/TIA
568A and EIA/TIA 568B Ethernet LAN cabling standards.
 ITU-T. The International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunication
Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of the largest and oldest communication
standard organizations. The ITUT defines standards for video compression, Internet
Protocol Television (IPTV), and broadband communications, such as a digital
subscriber line (DSL). For example, when dialing another country, ITU country codes
are used to make the connection.
 ICANN. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a
nonprofit organization based in the United States that coordinates IP address

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allocation, the management of domain names used by DNS, and the protocol
identifiers or port numbers used by TCP and UDP protocols. ICANN creates policies
and has overall responsibility for these assignments.
 IANA. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a department of ICANN
responsible for overseeing and managing IP address allocation, domain name
management, and protocol identifiers for ICANN.

Network Reference Models

As stated by Cisco Networking Academy (2016), there are two basic types of networking
models namely protocol model and reference model.
 Protocol model. This model closely matches the structure of a particular protocol
suite. The hierarchical set of related protocols in a suite typically represents all the
functionality required to interface the human network with the data network. The
TCP/IP model is a protocol model, because it describes the functions that occur
at each layer of protocols within the TCP/IP suite.
 Reference model. This model provides consistency within all types of network
protocols and services by describing what has to be done at a particular layer, but
not prescribing how it should be accomplished. A reference model is not intended
to be an implementation specification or to provide a sufficient level of detail to
define precisely the services of the network architecture. The primary purpose of

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 a reference model is to aid in clearer understanding of the functions and processes
involved such as OSI model.

The Benefits of Using a Layered Model

A layered model, such as the TCP/IP model, is often used to help visualize the interaction
between various protocols. A layered model depicts the operation of the protocols occurring within
each layer, as well as the interaction of protocols with the layers above and below each layer
(Cisco Networking Academy, 2016). There are benefits to using a layered model to describe
network protocols and operations. Using a layered model, it can:
 Assists in protocol design, because protocols that operate at a specific layer have

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defined information that they act upon and a defined interface to the layers above and
below.
 Fosters competition, because products from different vendors can work together.
 Prevents technology or capability changes in one layer from affecting other layers
above and below, and
 Provides a common language to describe networking functions and capabilities.

The OSI model is the most widely known internetwork reference model. It is used for data
network design, operation specifications, and troubleshooting.
When discussing network functionality, the TCP/IP and OSI models are the primary
models used as shown in Figure 1-85. The designers of network protocols, services, or devices
can create their own models to represent their products. Eventually, designers are required to
communicate to the industry by relating their product or service to either the OSI model or the
TCP/IP model, or to both.

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 Network Internet

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Figure 1-85. OSI and TCP/IP models (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

The OSI Reference Model

The OSI model provides an extensive list of functions and services that can occur at each
layer. It also describes the interaction of each layer with the layers directly above and below it.
Although the content of this course is structured around the OSI reference model, the focus of
discussion is the protocols identified in the TCP/IP protocol model. Figure 1-86 shows the function
of each of the layers found in the OSI reference model (Cisco Networking Academy, 2016).

data

data Application /
Host Layers
data

segment

packet
Media
Layers
frame

bits
`
Figure 1-86. Function of each of the layers found in the OSI reference model (courtesy of Cisco
Press, 2016)

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OSI Reference Model Layers and its Functions

As illustrated in Figure 1-86, the OSI has seven (7) different layers and divided into two
groups namely application or host layers and media layers. The top three layers (application,
presentation, and session layers) define how the applications within the end stations will
communicate with each other and with users (or host). While the bottom four layers (transport,
network, data link, and physical layers) defines how data is transmitted end to end called the
media or medium.
In addition, the following network devices operate at all seven layers of the OSI model are
the Network Management Stations (NMSs), Web and application servers, gateways (not default
gateways), and network hosts.

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Various mnemonics make it easier to remember the order of the OSI model’s layers is
presented in Table 1-6.

Table 1-6. Easy way to remember the seven layers of OSI model
LAYER MNEMONIC 1 (read MNEMONIC 2 (read
LAYER NAME
NO. from top to bottom) from bottom to top)
7 Application All Away
6 Presentation People Pizza
5 Session Seem Sausage
4 Transport To Throw
3 Network Need Not
2 Data Link Data Do
1 Physical Processing Please

Layer 7 - Application Layer. This layer serves as the window for users and application processes
to access network services and contains a variety of commonly needed functions:
 Resource sharing and device redirection
 Remote file access
 Remote printer access
 Inter-process communication
 Network management
 Directory services
 Electronic messaging (such as mail)
 Network virtual terminals

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Layer 6 – Presentation Layer. This layer formats the data to be presented to the application layer.
It can be viewed as the translator for the network. This layer may translate data from a format
used by the application layer into a common format at the sending station, then translate the
common format to a format known to the application layer at the receiving station. The
presentation layer provides:
 Character code translation. Below are the examples of presentation layer formats:
o Text - RTF, ASCII, EBCDIC
o Images - GIF, JPG, TIF
o Audio - MIDI, MP3, WAV
o Movies - MPEG, AVI, MOV

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 Data conversion. For example, the bit order, CR-CR/LF, integer-floating point, and
so on.
 Data compression. This reduces the number of bits that need to be transmitted on
the network.
 Data encryption. This encrypt data for security purposes. For example, password
encryption.

Layer 5 – Session Layer. This is responsible for establishing, maintaining, and ultimately
terminating sessions between devices. This layer provides:
 Session establishment, maintenance and termination. It allows two application
processes on different machines to establish, use and terminate a connection, called
a session.
 Session support. It performs the functions that allow these processes to
communicate over the network, performing security, name recognition, logging, and
so on.

In addition, sessions communication falls under one of three categories:

 Full-duplex – simultaneous two-way communication
 Half-duplex – two-way communication, but not simultaneous
 Simplex – one-way communication

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Layer 4 – Transport Layer. This layer ensures that messages are delivered error-free, in
sequence, and with no losses or duplications. It relieves the higher layer protocols from any
concern with the transfer of data between them and their peers. The transport layer provides:
 Segmentation and Sequencing. The data is segmented into smaller pieces for
transport. Each segment is assigned a sequence number, so that the receiving device
can reassemble the data on arrival.
 Acknowledgment. It provides reliable end-to-end message delivery with
acknowledgments.
 Traffic control. It tells the transmitting station to "back-off" when no message buffers
are available.

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 Session multiplexing. It multiplexes several message streams, or sessions onto one
logical link and keeps track of which messages belong to which sessions.

Furthermore, the transport layer communication falls under two categories:

 Connection-oriented – requires that a connection with specific agreed-upon
parameters be established before data is sent such as Transmission Control Protocol
(TCP)
 Connectionless – requires no connection before data is sent such as User Datagram
Protocol (UDP)

Layer 3 – Network Layer. This layer controls the operation of the subnet, deciding which physical
path the data should take based on network conditions, priority of service, and other factors. It
provides:
 Routing. It routes frames among networks.
 Subnet Traffic Control. The routers (network layer intermediate systems) can instruct
a sending station to "throttle back" its frame transmission when the router's buffer fills
up.
 Frame fragmentation. If it determines that a downstream router's maximum
transmission unit (MTU) size is less than the frame size, a router can fragment a frame
for transmission and re-assembly at the destination station.
 Logical-physical address mapping. It translates logical addresses (IP), or names,
into physical addresses (MAC).

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  Subnet usage accounting. It has accounting functions to keep track of frames
forwarded by subnet intermediate systems, to produce billing information.

Layer 2 – Data Link Layer. This layer provides error-free transfer of data frames from one node
to another over the physical layer, allowing layers above it to assume virtually error-free
transmission over the link. To do this, the data link layer provides:
 Link establishment and termination. It establishes and terminates the logical link
between two nodes.
 Frame traffic control. tells the transmitting node to "back-off" when no frame buffers
are available.
 Frame sequencing. transmits/receives frames sequentially.

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 Frame acknowledgment. It provides or expects frame acknowledgments. Detects
and recovers from errors that occur in the physical layer by retransmitting non-
acknowledged frames and handling duplicate frame receipt.
 Frame delimiting. It creates and recognizes frame boundaries.
 Frame error checking. It checks received frames for integrity.
 Media access management. It determines when the node "has the right" to use the
physical medium

Additionally, the data link layer consists of two sublayers:

 Logical Link Control (LLC) sublayer - serves as the intermediary between the
physical link and all higher layer protocols
 Media Access Control (MAC) sublayer - controls access to the physical medium,
serving as mediator if multiple devices are competing for the same physical link.

Layer 1 – Physical Layer. This layer is the lowest layer of the OSI model, is concerned with the
transmission and reception of the unstructured raw bit stream over a physical medium. The
physical layer specifications include the following:
 Voltage changes or patterns
 Timing of voltage changes
 Data rates
 Maximum transmission distances
 Physical connectors to the transmission medium

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 Moreover, the physical layer provides the following:
 Data encoding. It modifies the simple digital signal pattern (1’s and 0’s) used by the
PC to better accommodate the characteristics of the physical medium, and to aid in bit
and frame synchronization.
 Physical medium attachment. It accommodates various possibilities in the medium
 Transmission technique. It determines whether the encoded bits will be transmitted
by baseband (digital) or broadband (analog) signaling.
 Physical medium transmission. It transmits bits as electrical or optical signals
appropriate for the physical medium

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Moreover, the physical layer provides specifications for a variety of hardware such as:
 Cabling
 Connectors and transceivers
 Network interface cards (NICs)
 Wireless radios
 Switches or hubs

The TCP/IP Protocol Model

The TCP/IP protocol model for internetwork communications was created in the early
1970s and sometimes referred to as the Internet model or Department of Defense (DoD)
model. As shown in Figure 1-87, it defines four categories of functions that must occur for
communications to be successful. The architecture of the TCP/IP protocol suite follows the
structure of this model. Because of this, the Internet model is commonly referred to as the TCP/IP
model.

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 Computer Networking 1
Figure 1-87. TCP/IP model (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)
The types of services performed and protocols used at each layer within the TCP/IP
model are shown in more detail in Figure 1-88.

Figure 1-88. Functions of each layer in TCP/IP model (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

Comparing the OSI Model with the TCP/IP Model

As explained by Cisco Networking Academy (2016), the protocols that make up the
TCP/IP protocol suite can be described in terms of the OSI reference model. In the OSI model,
the network access layer and the application layer of the TCP/IP model are further divided to
describe discrete functions that must occur at these layers.

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 As shown in Figure 1-89, the critical parallels between the two network models occur at
OSI Layers 3 and 4. OSI Layer 3, the network layer, is almost universally used to describe the
range of processes that occur in all data networks to address and route messages through an
internetwork. IP is the TCP/IP suite protocol that includes the functionality described at OSI Layer
3. Layer 4, the transport layer of the OSI model, describes general services and functions that
provide ordered and reliable delivery of data between source and destination hosts. These
functions include acknowledgement, error recovery, and sequencing. At this layer, the TCP/IP
protocols TCP and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) provide the necessary functionality. The
TCP/IP application layer includes a number of protocols that provide specific functionality to a
variety of end-user applications. The OSI model Layers 5, 6, and 7 are used as references for

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application software developers and vendors to produce products that operate on networks.

Figure 1-89. Comparing the OSI model and the TCP/IP model (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

Moving Data in the Network

To move through the network, data must be properly encapsulated with sufficient control
and addressing information to allow it to move from the sender to the receiver. The actual
information required depends on whether the data is destined for a local or remote resource.

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Data Encapsulation

In theory, stated by Cisco Networking Academy (2016), a single communication, such as

a music video or an email message, could be sent across a network from a source to a destination
as one massive, uninterrupted stream of bits. If messages were actually transmitted in this
manner, it would mean that no other device would be able to send or receive messages on the
same network while this data transfer was in progress. These large streams of data would result
in significant delays. Furthermore, if a link in the interconnected network infrastructure failed
during the transmission, the complete message would be lost and have to be retransmitted in full.

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Communicating the Messages

According to Cisco Networking Academy (2016), a better approach is to divide the data
into smaller, more manageable pieces to send over the network. This division of the data stream
into smaller pieces is called segmentation. Segmenting messages has two primary benefits:
 Different conversations can be interleaved. The process used to interleave the pieces
of separate conversations together on the network is called multiplexing.
 Increased reliability of network communications. The separate pieces of each
message need not travel the same pathway across the network from source to
destination.

However, the downside to using segmentation and multiplexing to transmit messages

across a network is the level of complexity that is added to the process. In network
communications, each segment of the message must go through a similar process to ensure that
it gets to the correct destination and can be reassembled into the content of the original message.
This is shown in Figure 1-90.

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 Computer Networking 1
Figure 1-90. Communicating the message (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

Protocol Data Units (PDU)

As application data is passed down the protocol stack on its way to be transmitted across
the network media, various protocols add information to it at each level. This is commonly known
as the encapsulation process.
The form that a piece of data takes at any layer is called a protocol data unit (PDU).
Furthermore, in OSI term used in telecommunications, PDU refers to a group of information added
or removed by a layer of the OSI model. During encapsulation, each succeeding layer
encapsulates the PDU that it receives from the layer above in accordance with the protocol being
used. At each stage of the process, a PDU has a different name to reflect its new functions as
illustrated in shown in Figure 1-91 and Figure 1-92. The PDUs are named according to the
protocols of the TCP/IP suite such as:
 Data. The general term for the PDU used at the application layer
 Segment. Transport layer PDU
 Packet. Internet layer PDU
 Frame. Network access layer PDU
 Bits. A PDU used when physically transmitting data over the medium

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 Computer Networking 1
Figure 1-91. Encapsulation in TCP/IP model (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)

Figure 1-92. Encapsulation in OSI model (courtesy of routinglab.blogspot.com, 2011)

Encapsulation

As describe by Cisco Networking Academy (2016), the term data encapsulation is the
process that adds additional protocol header information to the data before transmission. In most

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forms of data communications, the original data is encapsulated or wrapped in several protocols
before being transmitted as shown in Figure 1-93. During encapsulation on the sending host:
 Data from the user application is handed off to the Transport layer.
 The Transport layer adds a header containing protocol-specific information, and then
hands the segment to the Network layer.
 The Network layer adds a header containing source and destination logical
addressing, and then hands the packet to the Data-link layer.
 The Data-link layer adds a header containing source and destination physical
addressing and other hardware-specific information.
 The Data-link frame is then handed off to the Physical layer to be transmitted on the

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network medium as bits.

Figure 1-93. Data encapsulation process in sending an HTML web page to a client (courtesy of
Cisco Press, 2016)

Decapsulation
As shown in Figure 1-94 and Figure 1-95, the process is reversed at the receiving host
and is known as decapsulation. Decapsulation is the process used by a receiving device to
remove one or more of the protocol headers. The data is decapsulated as it moves up the stack
toward the end-user application. Furthermore, during decapsulation on the receiving host, the
reverse occurs:
 The frame is received from the physical medium.
 The Data-link layer processes its header, strips it off, and then hands it off to the
Network layer (packet).

process of opening packs over the network, which opens start from physical
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  The Network layer processes its header, strips it off, and then hands it off to the
Transport layer (segment).
 The Transport layer processes its header, strips it off, and then hands the data to the
user application (application).

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Figure 1-94. Data decapsulation process in sending an HTML web page to a client (courtesy of
Cisco Press, 2016)

Figure 1-95. Decapsulation in OSI model (courtesy of routinglab.blogspot.com, 2011)

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Summary

 Data networks are systems of end devices, intermediary devices, and the media connecting
the devices. For communication to occur, these devices must know how to communicate.
 These devices must comply with communication rules and protocols. TCP/IP is an example
of a protocol suite.
 Most protocols are created by a standards organization such as the IETF or IEEE.
 The most widely-used networking models are the OSI and TCP/IP models.
 Data that passes down the stack of the OSI model is segmented into pieces and encapsulated
with addresses and other labels. The process is reversed as the pieces are decapsulated and

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passed up the destination protocol stack.
 The OSI model describes the processes of encoding, formatting, segmenting, and
encapsulating data for transmission over the network.
 The TCP/IP protocol suite is an open standard protocol that has been endorsed by the
networking industry and ratified, or approved, by a standards organization.
 The Internet Protocol Suite is a suite of protocols required for transmitting and receiving
information using the Internet.
 Protocol Data Units (PDUs) are named according to the protocols of the TCP/IP suite: data,
segment, packet, frame, and bits.
 Applying models allows individuals, companies, and trade associations to analyze current
networks and plan the networks of the future.

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